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Global Labs Ticketing Redesign (HPE)

Simplifying ticket workflows for enterprise training teams

HPE Pointnext Services Trainers (Requestors),Trainer Managers (Approvers), Lab Administrators (Provisioning & compliance),Design Lead, Design collaborator + usability support, Product + Engineering stakeholders

The Ask

How might we redesign the Global Labs ticketing experience so trainers can request lab environments with clarity, managers can approve with confidence, and lab admins can provision Lab Rat environments efficiently—without rework, status confusion, or workflow delays?

Project Overview

HPE’s enterprise ecosystem—especially around HPE GreenLake and training services—supports complex, high-value cloud and infrastructure products. Trainers deliver hands-on training using real HPE devices and environments, often requiring remote access, approvals, and provisioning coordination.

Global Labs served as the central ticketing platform for trainers to request training environments. Once approved by the trainer’s manager and lab admin team, a dedicated project lab environment named Lab Rat is provisioned, enabling trainers to remotely control devices for training delivery.

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However, while the system was mission-critical, the experience had become difficult to use:

  • cluttered interface

  • confusing ticket workflows

  • inconsistent UI

  • unclear ticket status visibility

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HPE trainers rely on Global Labs to request device environments for hands-on learning. I led the redesign of this legacy ticketing experience to reduce cognitive load, improve approval clarity, and increase visibility across the request → provisioning lifecycle—supporting training readiness at enterprise scale.

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This project focused on redesigning the experience into a structured, role-based platform that supports reliable training operations at enterprise scale.

“This wasn’t ‘just ticketing’—it was the gateway to training readiness in a complex cloud ecosystem.”

My Role

I worked as UX Designer along with my team

Partners : HPE Pointnext Services Trainers (Requestors),Trainer Managers (Approvers), Lab Administrators (Provisioning & compliance),Design Lead, Design collaborator + usability support, Product + Engineering stakeholders

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I led the redesign from discovery to validation:

  • audited the existing Global Labs platform

  • mapped workflows across 3 personas: Requestor, Manager, Lab Admin

  • created user flows to identify bottlenecks and streamline tasks

  • restructured information architecture based on mental models

  • partnered with Lead to create user interview scripts

  • conducted user interviews and synthesized findings

  • ideated redesign solutions with the team

  • created wireframes + prototypes

  • supported usability testing and iteration

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I collaborated closely with my lead and teammate especially for brainstorming and usability evaluation.

Problems and What I Observed

The platform supported essential operations, but the experience introduced unnecessary cognitive load and uncertainty.

1. Cluttered interface

The UI presented too much at once—making the system visually overwhelming and hard to interpret.
 

2. Ticket submission & tracking was not intuitive

Key workflows required too many steps and navigation jumps, making completion inefficient.
 

3. Design inconsistencies created friction

Inconsistent layouts and patterns made it harder for users to build familiarity and speed.
 

4. No strong feedback or ticket progress visibility

Users did not receive clear signals on:

  • where the ticket stood

  • who owned the next step

  • whether it was approved

  • expected resolution
     

This caused confusion and follow-ups that could have been avoided with better UX.

“The system was functional—but it didn’t support flow.”

Existing_Global_Labs_platform.webp

Research Synthesis — translating feedback into design priorities


We coded interview insights into positives vs pain points (green/red) to identify the most common breakdowns and guide workflow improvements with clarity.

User's Voice

Requestors (Trainers)

  • “The interface is overwhelming.”

  • “I’m not sure which fields are mandatory vs optional.”

  • “I submit tickets but don’t know what’s happening next.”

  • “I keep checking status multiple times.”

Pain Points

  • cognitive overload

  • uncertainty after submission

  • too many steps + navigation friction

Managers (Approvers)

  • “I need to approve quickly, but I don’t have enough context.”

  • “I have to open multiple places to understand the request.”

  • “It’s not obvious what requires my action.”

Pain Points

  • poor context during review

  • unclear urgency

  • delayed approvals

Lab Admins

  • “Requests are not consistent.”

  • “It takes time to validate what’s being asked.”

  • “Tracking provisioning stages is messy.”

“The biggest pain wasn’t submitting the ticket—it was everything after.”

Pain Points

  • inconsistent request quality

  • effort-heavy validation

  • unclear workload visibility

Goals 

  • Reduce overwhelm
    Make the interface calm, scannable, and structured.

  • Simplify ticket creation
    Streamline request flows and reduce unnecessary steps.

  • Increase transparency
    Make ticket progress, ownership, and next steps visible.

  • Support role-based needs
    Requestor ≠ Manager ≠ Admin.Each role needs tailored information and actions.

  • Build trust through consistency
    Design consistency enables faster learning and confidence.

User Interview Script — building empathy across three roles

 

A structured interview guide created to understand requestors, managers, and lab admins—ensuring the redesign addressed not just UI issues, but workflow realities.

User Flow — mapping the end-to-end ticket lifecycle


Visualizing the request → approval → provisioning flow across roles helped identify friction points, unclear handoffs, and opportunities to simplify navigation and status visibility.

Few Screen shots from the usability Report and analysis

Information Architecture — reorganizing the platform around user intent


After stakeholder discussions, we restructured navigation to reflect real workflows rather than legacy system groupings—improving findability and reducing cognitive load.

The Solution and Outcomes

We redesigned Global Labs into a clearer, role-based workflow experience focused on end-to-end transparency.

The redesign introduced:

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  • Cleaner workflow entry points

  • Simplified ticket creation journey

  • Better ticket status clarity and feedback loops

  • Structured review flow for managers

  • Better provisioning clarity for lab admins

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The result was a platform that better supports the real operational flow:

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Request → Approval → Provisioning → Training readiness

Key Insights

  • Enterprise complexity demands clarity
    In a cloud/infrastructure ecosystem like GreenLake, users already manage complexity—tools must reduce cognitive burden.

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  • Ticketing is not a form; it’s a workflow
    The system must help users understand “where am I, what happens next, who owns it.”

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  • Status visibility = user trust
    Uncertainty creates follow-ups, delays, and frustration.

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  • Role-based design unlocks efficiency
    Requestors, managers, admins each require different visibility and actions.

Approach

Workflow understanding through mapping - Created a User Flow diagram to identify bottlenecks and redesign opportunities.

 

Persona-based UX framing - Defined 3 personas and role-based use cases:

  • Requestor

  • Manager

  • Lab admin

 

Information Architecture restructuring - After stakeholder interviews, organized content into a clearer structure aligned to tasks.

 

User interview planning + execution - Co-created interview scripts (with Harsha), conducted interviews, and extracted pain points.

 

Research synthesis - Mapped feedback using color coding:

  • Green: what worked

  • Red: pain points and breakdowns
    Used this to prioritize redesign focus.

 

Usability testing and iteration - Validated flows, adjusted where users hesitated, simplified steps further.

Impact

Clear request creation flow

Reduced overwhelm through:

  • structured sections

  • simplified field grouping

  • clearer intent per step

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Better tracking & transparency:

Improved - 

  • ticket status visibility

  • ownership

  • next-step signals

  • progress clarity

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Role-based views

Managers see review-ready context.
Admins see actionable provisioning details.
Trainers see clear updates.

The best operational systems aren’t the ones users admire. They’re the ones users never have to think about.

Moment That mattered

This project demonstrated how design can improve operational efficiency without changing core system logic.

When the revised flow and IA were reviewed, stakeholders recognized that the redesign:

  • reduced confusion-driven delays

  • improved approval readiness

  • strengthened training workflow continuity

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It became clear this redesign wasn’t cosmetic—it was infrastructure for smoother training operations.

What I learned

Redesigning the Global Labs ticketing platform strengthened my understanding of what operational UX truly demands: clarity, predictability, and trust. By conducting contextual interviews across trainers, managers, and lab administrators, I uncovered where the real friction lived — not only in the ticket form itself, but in the moments after submission: approvals, handoffs, status visibility, and uncertainty. These insights directly shaped the redesign, from information architecture to role-based workflows, ensuring the platform supported how training operations actually run.

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This project reinforced the value of designing for multiple stakeholders without compromising simplicity. It also reminded me that in complex enterprise ecosystems like HPE’s training and GreenLake environment, user experience isn’t about making things look modern — it’s about reducing cognitive load, removing ambiguity, and helping people complete high-impact work with confidence.


I especially enjoyed mapping the handoffs between roles — that’s where the most meaningful UX improvements were hiding.

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